Search: “kuwait”

From a legal stand point, cannabis and its legalities is very interesting to look at. The decisions towards cannabis seem to be changing rapidly in the west, now whether it should or shouldn’t be legal (I will leave that for the internet people to argue) I am just going to discuss the legalities of cannabis here in Kuwait.

Kuwait has very strict laws when it comes to drug abuse, but what does it say in regards to “smoking up?”

Kuwait’s Penal Law which speaks about crimes in general (and btw has been there since 1960!) states the following:

Article 208:
– Penalized for a period not exceeding 2 years in jail and/or a fine not exceeding KD2,000 for personal use (in a private place)

Article 207
– Penalized for a period not exceeding 7 years in jail and/or a fine not exceeding KD7,000 for drug dealing, or made it easier for another person to use drugs

This means that even if a person does not smoke up but facilitates for another person an environment to smoke up, they can get more years in jail. Let me re-explain this, if I let Mark smoke up in my living room but I don’t smoke up, I can get more years!

There are a lot of other things that come into account when the court looks at weed cases, there are also more detailed charts of each drug and its consequences, so please stay legal people.

Feel free to email me [email protected] with any legal questions. I do not have the capacity to answer everyone for free (but I try), and I am happy to annanounce that I am currently working with a great team and therefore we are able to reply back to all emails with a reasonable time frame.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

Photo by Prensa 420

[YouTube]

Why didn’t anyone tell me this was taking place over the weekend??? It looked pretty fun to watch. For more on the event click [Here]

Once a year Arabian Business releases a list of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Arab Women” and every year I go through the list and find all the Kuwaiti women and list them on the blog. This year the list seems to the be the smallest since I started posting them with only 5 Kuwaiti women making the list and all at lower slots than the previous year. Shaikha Al Bahar whom back in 2012 was in #8 dropped to #21 last year and is currently at #31. This years leader in my most powerful Kuwaiti women list is Maali Alasousi, a newcomer. I hadn’t heard of her before but according to an article on Knowledge@Wharton, “Maali Alasousi gave up a comfortable life in Kuwait to live in Yemen, dedicating herself to developing social programs in a country that is among the most impoverished in the world”.

Below is this years list of most powerful Kuwaiti women with their 2014 ranking in between parentheses:

25- Maali Alasousi (new)
31- Shaikha Al Bahar (21)
46- Rasha Al Roumi (43)
51- Maha Al Ghunaim (27)
94- Sara Akbar (67)

For the full list of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Arab Women” click [Here]

A redditor left the message below and it made me realize that asking my readers to answer his/her question could be beneficial not only to them, but to any other person who might be googling this in the future:

I need help. obviously Kuwait doesn’t have any suicide hot line or anything like that. But I was just wondering, what would be the ideal choice to resolve my depression here. It’s tearing my life apart. [Link]

I personally was lucky not to fall into depression after my divorce but I do understand the affect of mood fluctuations. If you can help or have any advice leave a comment below.

An airport bus accidentally drove into a brand new Kuwait Airways plane earlier today. The plane is one of the new leased planes and had just arrived to Kuwait a couple of days ago. The driver has already been deported (not really… I think).

via @jassimboodai

After a quiet weekend last week the events are back this weekend in full force. There are an insane amount of things to do but my personal picks are: Q8 Con, Alwan Art Festival, Q8 Food Festival, 7Market and of course Qout Market. Check out the full list of activities below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Al-Seef
1001 Inventions Exhibition
Q8 Food Festival
Rooftop Movie: Before Sunset
Kuwait Dino Park
Unique Market

Friday
1001 Inventions Exhibition
Q8 Food Festival
Make That Shot 3
Q8Con Comic Convention
Moto Bazaar
7Market
Alwan Art Festival
Book Club Meeting
Kuwait Dino Park
Native American Storytelling
Unique Market

Saturday
1001 Inventions Exhibition
Q8 Food Festival
Q8Con Comic Convention
Moto Bazaar
7Market
Guided Tour: Grand Mosque
Green Festival
Rooftop Movie: Lars and The Real Girl
Qout Market
Kuwait Dino Park
Unique Market

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]

According to Numbeo, the crowdsourced global database of reported consumer prices, Kuwait has the 9th highest cost of living in the world. Qatar was next Arab country on the list coming in at 27 followed by Lebanon at 35 and UAE in 36. The ranking is based on a multiple factors including consumer prices, rents, restaurant prices and local purchasing power. I don’t think anyone living here will be surprised by this.

On the other hand if you’re looking for an affordable place to go on vacation, the list above is of the countries with the lowest cost of living. I have a friend who just came back from Nepal and according to him his room was just $7 a night. Check out the full index [Here] and the infographic [Here]

Thanks Ryan

The Creative Times Report held a Q&A with Sultan Al Qassemi, the co-director of Art Dubai’s Global Art Forum and asked him about the decision to have the Global Art Forum begin in Kuwait. This is a snippet from the conversation:

CTR: Can you talk about the decision to have the Global Art Forum begin in Kuwait this year before it comes to Dubai? Kuwait was at one time a leader of the regional art scene, but attention shifted away from the country in the years after the Gulf War, and now there appears to be a resurgence of interest in Kuwaiti art and culture. What attracted you to bringing the Global Art Forum to Kuwait City before Dubai this year?

SAQ: Kuwait was the launchpad for the globalization of Gulf culture over half a century ago. Kuwait is where some of the earliest radio, cinema, theater and even political and social movements of the Gulf originated several decades ago. Kuwait was also the launchpad for the first Gulf publication in color that was sold not only in the streets and markets of the Gulf but also in Cairo, Damascus and Beirut. So for the first time, the Gulf had moved from being a receiver of culture—from the West, India and other parts of the Arab world—to being a broadcaster, a publisher, a producer of popular content. This is our way of tipping our hat to Kuwait and recognizing its pioneering role in the globalization of culture. [Source]

For those interested, the Global Art Forum will be in Kuwait from March 14 to 15. For more information click [Here]

There is a video that has been circulating via whatsapp of a woman dressed in full Kuwait national day gear (screenshot above) at a McDonalds hurling insults at an employee. The woman who seems to be a local citizen verbally abuses the employee calling him names and demeaning him in front of everyone over what seems to be a misunderstanding.

Many readers have emailed me requesting to share the video which I would usually do because it’s news worthy in a tabloid sort of way but, I’m not sure I can do so without legally getting in trouble since the woman in the video is recognizable.

Anyway, here is my opinion on the video. This woman obviously doesn’t represent the majority or even minority of Kuwaitis. From the way she’s dressed and the insults she’s throwing I don’t think she’s even mentally stable. It’s just a one off situation similar to those random homeless people you run into in New York subways who talk to themselves and hurl insults randomly at strangers.

On the other hand one reader sent the following email which I thought I would share:

Being a Kuwaiti man, I am insulted by the behavior of some Kuwaitis over behavior like this:

Please do something about it. I truly believe this behavior needs to be made example of. A few years ago, a woman who threw her Kuwaiti passport on the ground to get a message across was made into an example of after social media widely spread her video. Such behavior that is displayed in this video needs to be stopped as well and it will if social media does the same thing to her.

I do agree that there should be consequences to her actions but again I don’t think this behavior or at least behavior this extreme is common. For those of you who’ve watched the video what are your thoughts on this?

The other day I shared an article from KUNA stating the Kuwait Towers were opening on February 25th. According to a couple of readers who visited the towers, that article was incorrect and the towers are still closed. But, according to a security guard at the towers, they will be opening on March 10th.

I love this, it looks like something out of Blade Runner. They should definitely consider keeping these lights on the towers permanently. [YouTube]

“The 32 Balloon Journey #NewYorkLovesKuwait” is a collaborative project by three Kuwaiti New Yorkers, Alyamamah Al Awadhi, Mohammad Al Mashaan, and Razan Al Sarraf. In the video they glide through the city of New York, celebrating the National and Liberation holidays in Kuwait. [YouTube]

The music video above is dedicated to the people of Kuwait from the expats of Kuwait (the remaining expats who still haven’t been deported). The video features a bunch of talented expats including a few I know like Monstariam and Basil Al Hadi. Check it out above. [YouTube]

The Kuwait Towers which have been closed since 2012 are set to reopen today, coinciding with National Day and Liberation Day. If anyone gets a chance to pass by before I’m back in Kuwait, please let me know if they’ve changed anything on the inside. [Link]

A pretty quiet weekend this week most likely because many people will be traveling for the national holidays. I’m out of town as well so glad to know I won’t be missing out on much. Check out this weekends events below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Al-Seef
1001 Inventions Exhibition
Wonho Chung Comedy Night
Kuwait Flight Academy Open Day
Rooftop Movie: Enemy

Friday
1001 Inventions Exhibition
Wonho Chung Comedy Night

Saturday
1001 Inventions Exhibition
Wonho Chung Comedy Night
AWARE Desert Camp
Rooftop Movie: Lars and The Real Girl

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]